Kyoto’s geisha district, known as Gion, has been facing a lot of overtourism problems lately. Here I take a look at the details of the so-called “Kyoto tourism ban”. The tourism ban is actually only relevant for the private roads of Gion, so let’s take a look at exactly what that entails.
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(Information pack to come. For now, see here: https://www.thatch.co/guide/2wbjgscafr6ds/view)
We’re going to go through everything that you need to know about the Kyoto tourism ban first we’ll talk about the current problem that Kyoto is facing followed by the details on the band itself and finally we’ll talk about what we can do as travelers to avoid inciting any further tourism bands around Kyoto
The problem Kyoto is currently facing huge over tourism issues as I talked about in my previous video but more specifically that has resulted in problems in the area of gon gon is an area of Kyoto known for its Geo and moo which is the Kyoto name for gisha and
Gisha in training some people do get confused they are not sex workers but just entertainers who are highly skilled in performative arts like music and dance and in gon there are a lot of private roads where the geeko and moo often pass through and for the past few
Years there has been a ban on photography in these streets including the people and the buildings on these streets however a lot of foreign tourists maybe they don’t know about the ban maybe they didn’t see the signs or maybe they are willfully ignoring this ban and they’re still going down the
Streets and clogging up the streets and even taking pictures the biggest problem has been people waiting in these streets or near these streets and then taking pictures of the Geo as soon as they come out onto the main public Street where photography is still technically allowed
But the reason that the ban existed in the first place is because of the harassment of the geeko and moo because a lot of people have been bombarding them with photos or even taking it further and touching them touching their hair touching their clothes and there was even one recorded incident of
Someone putting a cigarette butt into the kimono of a Geo the ban the ban is not a Kyoto Wide Travel ban as many headlines might lead you to believe it is actually just specific to gon at least for now if you do want to know whether this goes any further than I am
A Japan based travel writer so you can sign up to my monthly newsletter in the description below for New Japan travel information but within guon it goes even more specific because it’s only related to these private roads tourists will no longer be allowed to go down these
Private roads unless they have a special permit or are accompanied by a guide Hanami Ki Street however is a public road so that will still be open to tourists but those entering the private roads are warned of signs up to 10,000 Yen which is around
$67 and this will be shown by signs that are going to be clearly placed at the ends of these private roads right now those signs do say no photography is allowed and these will change to say something along the lines of private road do not enter what we can do follow
The rules and stay out of the private roads this is a cry for help from the geko and residents of the local area so the least that we can do is listen there are also Kyoto guidelines on traveling around the entire area that comes from the Kyoto tourism board that I will link
In the information pack below next do not take pictures of geeko and moo without permission you can ask for permission by saying if they turn their face and put their hand up or they don’t say anything and they walk away then that means no similarly if they do this gesture or
They do anything where they’re covering their face then that also means no examples of a yes might be okay okay this hi Doo or anything that has a more open-handed gesture as opposed to a covering their face or trying to look away however please do be ready for them
To say no because it is quite likely that they just don’t want anyone to take photos of them ever again because they’ve been having people taking photos of them every day for who knows how long without their permission another thing you can do is just switch off your phone
And Camera while during gon and take it all in because you’ve probably taken a lot of photos and videos all around the rest of Japan maybe this one part can be just for you and your memories alone but if you do really want to take pictures
Of geko and moo and you have had no success in asking them for permission then you can go to a Geo show or a guided tour a lot of these have a photo opportunity or photo shoot with the geeko at the end another option is to go somewhere else entirely because there
Are actually a lot of Gaya districts around Japan you should still definitely ask for permission before you take pictures of Geisha but for example kanazawa is a beautiful place that also has a gisha district and it’s also known for its gold so you can walk around
Shops full of gold and galleries full of golden artwork and even have Golden ice cream and it also has amazing seafood and a beautiful garden so I would highly recommend it it is gaining popularity and definitely a lot of Japanese residents already go there but it is far
Far less crowded than Kyoto so I highly recommend it let me know what else you want to know about Japan but if you want to learn more about the current situation in Kyoto then check out this video and I’ll see you next time